The former World of Beer at 8217 Tourist Center Drive, shown in this Herald file photo, re-branded and reopened as The Dub Shack in January. Now The Dub Shack will be forced to close on March 27. Tiffany Tompkinsttompkins@bradenton.com

The former World of Beer at 8217 Tourist Center Drive, shown in this Herald file photo, re-branded and reopened as The Dub Shack in January. Now The Dub Shack will be forced to close on March 27. Tiffany Tompkinsttompkins@bradenton.com

Bradenton World of Beer wins round against JDubs Brewing

The future of Bradenton’s former World of Beer locations is up in the air, particularly after a Hillsborough County judge granted a temporary injunction this week in favor of World of Beer Inc.

World of Beer Inc. filed a lawsuit in early February against SRQBeer USK LLC, the franchisees who ran the World of Beer location at 8217 Tourist Center Drive. JDubs Brewing Co. LLC also is included as a defendant.

The lawsuit alleges that the franchisees, Mark Broderick and Dean Lambert, broke their franchise agreement with World of Beer by closing the location and re-branding it as The Dub Shack, a JDub’s Brewing Co. taproom. JDub’s, a Sarasota-based brewery, is owned by and named after Jeremy Joerger.

The Dub Shack will be required to close on March 27 whether World of Beer Inc. chooses to purchase the tavern or not

Per the injunction granted Monday by Judge Steven Scott Stephens, Broderick and Lambert must give World of Beer Inc. until March 26 to decide if the company will buy the tavern. The Dub Shack is required to close by March 27 even if the company doesn’t purchase the tavern. Further, the franchisees are forbidden from recruiting or hiring any former World of Beer employees and operating a competing business within a 10-mile radius of the location at 8217 Tourist Center Drive.

Broderick and Lambert were also involved with another former Bradenton World of Beer location, 497 Cortez Road W., and a downtown Sarasota location, 1888 Main St. The Cortez Road location closed in January and the Sarasota Main Street location no longer appears on World of Beer’s website, a sign of severed ties.

Mark Famiglio, who owns the Cortez Road location property, said in January the tavern would reopen under a new, undisclosed brand soon after it closed under the World of Beer name. Famiglio could not be reached for comment regarding the status of those plans.

Attorneys for the franchisees and World of Beer Inc. could not be reached for comment. Attempts to reach Lambert were unsuccessful.